OSCE Chairperson welcomes extension of Ukraine Mission mandate, calls for unfettered access
BELGRADE, 12 March 2015 – Today’s decision by the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna to extend the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) and allocate necessary resources confirms the support and commitment of all 57 participating States to implementing the Minsk agreements and to the Mission, said OSCE...
Kennan Cable No.6: Peace and Energy in Ukraine… and Russia
Ukraine remains at a precipice between increased military escalation with Russia and eastern separatists, and concerted efforts – the latest in Minsk – to achieve a diplomatic settlement that recognizes its sovereignty and independence. If diplomacy prevails, President Poroshenko and his government will face a daunting agenda of defining a viable...
Wide-ranging ideas for OSCE reform, PA contributions discussed at Helsinki +40 Stockholm seminar
COPENHAGEN, 12 March 2015 – The third event in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Helsinki +40 seminar series took place on 11 March in Stockholm, with experts, policy-makers, ambassadors and OSCE parliamentarians considering how the European security architecture, and the OSCE’s inclusive security community in particular, can better...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 11 March 2015
This report is for media and the general public. The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – observed that fighting continued in areas in and around the Donetsk airport...
Lonely at the Top
In the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood, Daniel Day-Lewis plays the ruthless and determined oil prospector Daniel Plainview. Starting out with small and dangerous undertakings, Plainview amasses an oil empire worthy of any robber baron. Apart from the clear allusion to violence, blood plays an important part in shaping Plainview’s solitary...
Russia Denies Torture of Nemtsov Murder Suspects, Macedonian Political War Escalates
Plus, Poland becomes the latest Russian neighbor to revive military conscription, and Tajikistan tries a go-easy approach with Islamic State fighters. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Was Armenia the Canary in the ‘Near-Abroad’ Coal Mine?
Russian moves vis a vis Yerevan were an early indicator of the Kremlin’s more muscular approach to its former vassal states. From openDemocracy. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 10 March 2015
This report is for media and the general public. The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – directly observed heavy fighting in and around the Donetsk airport and in the...
The joint international military brigade will bring Ukraine closer to NATO standards
The new joint military brigade will allow forces from Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania to support stability and safety in the region and bring Kyiv’s armed forces closer to NATO standards. Military and security experts said that the unit, which will serve under the auspices of the UN, NATO and the EU, constitutes an important step for Ukraine,...
Low oil prices: Who are the losers?
Trying to forecast any future shifts in oil prices, or their eventual duration, is useless, as I wrote in December. Since that time, oil prices fell even more, then rose by more than a fifth in a matter of days, and then began to fall again — providing those commentators who will never learn with opportunities to argue that we will see $30/barrel...
